EUPHORBIACEAE. 



209 



1. Acalypha Wilkesiana Muell. 

 Arg. MATCH-ME-IF-YOU-CAN. JA- 

 COB'S COAT. (Fig. 229.) A shrub, 

 up to 8 high, the twigs appressed- 

 pubescent. Leaves ovate to ovate- 

 oblong, long-petioled, 4'-S' long, 

 acuminate at the apex, rounded or 

 subeordate at the base, finely 

 bluntly dentate, nearly glabrous; 

 variously colored; staminate spikes 

 slender, nearly as long as the upper 

 leaves, the pistillate shorter, their 

 bracts broadly triangular, deeply 

 incised. 



Sparingly escaped into waste 

 grounds from hedges and gardens 

 where it is commonly planted for its 

 ornamental foliage. Native of the 

 Fiji Islands. [A. tricolor of Lefroy 

 and of H. B. Small?; Coleus scutcl- 

 larioides of A. H. Moore.] 



4. MERCUEIALIS [Tourn.] L. 



Annual or perennial herbs or shrubby plants. Leaves opposite, entire or 

 often toothed. Flowers mostly dioecious, .apetalous. Staminate flowers in 

 more or less elongated spikes or racemes, the calyx membranous, of 3 valvate 

 sepals; -stamens 8-20; filaments distinct; anthers opening lengthwise. Pis- 

 tillate flowers with 3 sepals; ovary 2-celled; styles 2, distinct or nearly so; 



stigmas entire. Ovules solitary in 

 each cavity. Capsule usually 2-lobed. 

 Seed solitary in each cavity, with 



v T &/& a smooth or tuberculate crustaceous 



testa. [The herb of Mercury.] About 

 7 species, the following typical, all 

 natives of the Old World. 



1. Mercurialis annua L. HERB 

 MERCURY. MOCKERY. STINKWEED. 

 (Fig. 230.) Annual, glabrous. Stems 

 8'-2 tall, more or less branched; 

 leaf-blades thinnish, ovate to lanceo- 

 late, acute or slightly acuminate, ser- 

 rate with rounded teeth, or crenate; 

 petioles 3 "-8" long; staminate flowers 

 in interrupted spikes which surpass 

 the leaves; pistillate flowers clustered 

 in the axils; capsules 2-lobed, 2"-2i'^ 

 broad, hispid; seeds subglobose, |" 

 in diameter, pitted. 



Common in waste and cultivated 

 grounds. Naturalized. Native of Europe. 

 Naturalized in the southern United 

 States. Flowers nearly throughout the 

 year. 



15 



